


Red Fox

by MarvelWoman



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alien Invasion, Brief Mentions Of Rape, Doctor strange is like the dad, Eventual Smut, Eventual thanos, F/M, How Do I Tag, I'm Bad At Tagging, Might add more tags later, Minor Character Death, My First AO3 Post, Original Character(s), POV Third Person, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Protective Peter Parker, Spider-Man: Homecoming Spoilers, eventual infinity war spoilers, main character has powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2019-06-14 09:38:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15385959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarvelWoman/pseuds/MarvelWoman
Summary: Aeliana Tora used to be normal. Then she almost died and got some cool powers. She fights crime in Japan. One day, Doctor Strange enters her life and wants to be her ally. Basically her story and how she meets Peter Parker and becomes involved with the Avengers.I'm really bad at summaries, so just bear with me.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So this is the first fic I've ever posted anywhere and I'm really nervous. It's currently 2:15 in the morning and I think I'm going to regret this when I wake up. I'm literally terrified. Be gentle with me. 
> 
> So this is a fic with the main character and Peter Parker and their story of how they met. There are some dark parts in this fic and I will warn ahead of time.

**Four Years Ago~**

In the backstreets of Hokkaido, Japan, where the crime is high, she hears a shriek for help. She knows that she has no power of her own, but she makes due with what she has: a baseball bat and a white fox mask covering her face.

She runs towards the cries for help, her legs carrying her, almost unsteady, as if she hasn’t done this before.

Four men and one female. She’s seen these things before.

While she still has the jump on the four, her bat rises into the air and slams into the nearest man, sending him to the cold, wet ground. Another swing of the bat sends two more to the ground.

 _‘Just one more…’_ She whispers.

A loud bang rings throughout the dark alleyway.

She feels a hard shove to the chest, but not quite by human hands. Just by the gun the man is holding, pointed right at her, smoke coming from the barrel.

With one more swing of her bat, the last man falls and she makes a run for it, collapsing five streets over in the darkness.

She grabs her chest hard, clenching her teeth at the searing pain.

The bullet did not go all the way through. She can feel it split into a few pieces throughout her chest.

She isn’t a nurse, but she doesn’t think she could survive the few miles walk to the hospital. And what would she tell them?

She pulls the mask from her face to get more air. One tear rolls down her pale cheek. She was going to die here, from a bullet wound in a back alley…

A bright white light flickers in front of her. She tries to focus on it, but her vision becomes too blurry.

 _“You are a brave young woman.”_ A soft, yet powerful male voice comes from behind the white light.

“W-who are you?” She says, gripping her chest.

 _“My name is Izanagi, God of Creation.”_  

“Impossible!”

 _“_ _Quite possible, my child. For your bravery and sacrifice, I will bestow upon you a gift. A gift that will use to serve as Japan’s Hogo-sha.”_

“P-protector? Why me?”

 _“_ _Because you have caught my eye and I think we need a new source of protection here in my home.”_

Another tear rolls down her cheek in pain.

She feels the droplets of blood slide down her chest, soaking her shirt and dirtying her hands.

 _“_ _You are in pain. Let me help you, Aeliana Tora.”_

A hard pressure falls upon her chest as the burning light pours into her.

Aeliana’s body is on fire. She feels her very being tear apart and become something new entirely.

 _“Use them well.”_  

Those are the last words she hears before blacking out.

 

Aeliana jolts up quickly, breathing heavily.

As she looks around, she finds herself in bed, back at her apartment, alone as usual.

 _Was it all a dream?_  

When she looks down at her chest, she knows it wasn’t a dream. For her shirt is drenched in blood and a nasty scar rests between her breasts.

She gets up out of bed immediately and tosses the bloody clothes into the washer, hiding the evidence.

Izanagi mentioned powers. _‘What powers?’_ She asks herself.

Without a thought, she shoots out a hand, expecting nothing to happen.

What she doesn’t expect is a large set of flames to shoot out of her hand and singe the hell out of the flooring.

She stares at the burn in horror. _‘Oh hell… What the fuck is this?’_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long! College is really tough and I have a bad case of writer's block. But I managed to get out another chapter. There will be some time skips throughout the fic, but I'll let you know where they are in bold. Enjoy!

**One Year Ago~**

Aeliana Tora sits at the front of the class, taking in every word from her Psychology professor. She’s always been fascinated with anything to do with the mind.

“I hope everyone’s final papers are coming together nicely? If anyone has any questions, you know my office hours. I say them every class period. You’re in college; you can remember that much I hope.”

Aeliana wants to laugh, but she holds it in. She finished her paper nearly two weeks ago so that she could focus on her more exhausting college courses.

As a second year at the University of Tokyo, she is expected to know many things and act accordingly.

At nineteen years old, she’s been keeping her little secret as the Hogo-sha for three years. She hasn’t had to fight off an alien race yet, so she counts that as a win.

Aeliana is done for the day, so she decides to stop by the hospital to visit her father.

Her father has been on the third floor of Hasashi Hospital for five years, slowly dying. He fought in the war between Japan and Germany five years ago, considered a war hero even. However, a great sickness overcame him and no one has been able to find a cure.

Since her mother died horribly nearly four years ago, her father is the only thing keeping her tied to the earth.

Her father, Hiroshi Tora, age fifty-two, stares at her from his hospital bed, and greets her with a soft hello.

“How are you Dad?” Aeliana asked softly, picking up his hand to hold in hers.

“I’ve certainly seen better days.” He says with a rough cough.

Aeliana flinches, clenching her other fist to hide her pain. No one has found a cure to his sickness, or even what has caused it, as he lies in bed slowly dying. There is nothing anyone could do about it, least of all her. Even with the powers she was gifted, she cannot cure him.

When Izanagi saved her and gave her powers, she thought it was all a dream until she found what she could do.

She can control the elements. Earth, Air, Water, Lightning, Fire, Wood… She can make ice out of water, Iron and other minerals out of the earth, thunder from the lightning…

She is not a master of all of them. Her strongest elements right now are Air and Lightning. Her most uncontrollable is Fire. 

 

It’s late when she leaves the hospital and heads back to her apartment that she once shared with her parents. It feels like a lifetime ago. Maybe because it was…

She locks the door behind her and bolts the top. Even though she is stronger than she once was, she still feels some form of fear from back then. Back to the night when everything changed. When she changed.

She makes herself a pot of hot tea, sitting in her favorite chair with a good book.

Everything is peaceful until a circle of orange sparks appears out of nowhere.

Aeliana summons fire to her hands and prepares to battle.

A dark-haired, green-eyed man appears out of the sparks wearing blue robes, a red cape, and a golden chain around his neck with an eye shaped pendant.

He looks around at the apartment and the chair that Aeliana jumped out of at his intrusion.

“It’s pretty roomy here.” He says, taking another look around, despite the flames burning dangerously in her hands.

“ _State your name, surrender now and you won’t get hurt_.”

The man raises a finely arched brow.

“I apologize, but Japanese is a language I have yet to learn.”

Aeliana growls at him.

“I told you to state your name and surrender or burn.” She says, emphasizing the fire in her hands.

“My apologies. I am Doctor Stephen Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts.”

It’s her turn to raise an eyebrow.

“Like a wizard or something?”

“Something like that. Please have a seat. I’d like to discuss a few things with you.”

Aeliana looks at him with suspicion and distrust.

“How about I sit down first then?” He offers, sitting on the couch across from her. He places his hands on his lap, waiting for her to sit down as well.

“Would you like some tea?” She asks, trying to be a polite host, even though he was the one that so rudely broke into her home.

She has a brief flashback and shudders at the memories slowly coming back to her. The memories that she’s been trying so hard to suppress for years now.

“I would love some.”

His voice brings her back down to earth and back into her sad apartment. As she trudges into the kitchen, she shoves the memories back down where they belong. In the deepest portions of her mind, hidden so far that she can’t see them anymore.

She sets the cup of tea down in front of the Doctor and takes back her seat in the chair.

“So I take it you know who I am, seeing as you’ve so rudely broken in?”

“That’s correct. Aeliana Tora, master of many elements.” He says calmly.

“How is it that you know my name? How long have you known? And why have you come here?”

“So many questions. Well, for starters, I am offering myself up as your ally. This thing around my neck? I have come to you in hopes that in the near future, we can fight together. I think you will make a very powerful ally in the future.”

Aeliana laughs, taking another sip of her hot tea.

“You can’t be serious. Me? Your ally? You want to bring me into your fights? Fights that will have nothing to do with me? Don’t ask me to fight in your wars. I have enough battles of my own.”

“I am well aware that you have other battles. But you cannot deny that eventually there are fights you will have to enter. People all over the world need people like you and I. Don’t tell me that you don’t care about them.”

“Of course I do! Don’t put words in my mouth! You don’t know anything about me or what I stand for or the people I protect. I will _never_ turn my back on anyone that needs my help. You cannot force me to fight for you, but that does not mean that I won’t do what I think is best for the people we’re protecting.”

She angrily sips at her tea, glaring at him as he takes a small sip of his own. She can’t believe he tried to say that she doesn’t care about the people she protects. She cares more than she’d like to admit.

“Why are you really here, Doctor?”

“I see you as someone very powerful in the future. I want you as an ally. We fight for the same side.”

“That’s all? You want me as an ally?”

“That’s it.”

Aeliana tosses him her phone, assuming he has one despite the way he’s dressed.

“Contact me if you need me. I’ll be thinking about your offer.”

“Perfect.” He says, standing up and disappearing through another set of sparks.

Aeliana scowls and heads to the kitchen to wash the dishes. She continuously mutters to herself about how rude people are these days, barging into people’s homes without permission.

 

Two months later Aeliana gets out of class early because of finals and decides to take a walk around the city just because she feels like it.

She makes sure to revel in all that her city has to offer from the delicious foods and the music playing in the streets to the familiar faces of famous singers on banners across the way.

She’s become so familiar with every inch of Japan in the past three years. She stays in Tokyo because that’s where her apartment is, and where it will stay.

It’s a jumble of memories there, good and bad, but she wouldn’t want to live in any other place.

She would, however, like to travel to other places. But where to start? Stay in the Eastern side of the world or start with the West? Decisions, decisions…


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aeliana goes to New York and meets Peter Parker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again for a long wait, but here I am with another chapter. Look at me go.

“ _ Hello? _ ” A male voice answers, careful and calculated.

“Good evening Doctor Strange. I hope the time difference hasn’t caused any inconvenience.”

“ _ Not at all. How can I help you _ ?”

“Tell me about New York. I want to visit.”

“ _ That’s why you called? To ask about New York? Really? _ "

Aeliana can feel his irritation through the phone. Of course he would say something like that.

“Actually, I was hoping you could open a portal for me to visit. I know you can make one since you got into my house with one.”

“ _ I can’t just open up a portal for you, Aeliana. It’s not that simple. _ ”

“Why not? It looked easy from where you were. I can’t come by for a few hours? Just a few hours to visit New York and get the hang of America. I hear it’s called the Big Apple. Why is that? Do they have a really big statue of an apple? Or maybe a bunch of apple trees?”

Doctor Strange is silent for a moment. He takes the phone away from his ear and stares at it as if he’s looking Aeliana in the face.

He nearly facepalms.

“ _ No, there are no apples _ .”

“So then why--"

“ _ One portal coming right up _ .” Strange says quickly, cutting her off in his annoyance.

He rubs his temple, cursing himself. What was he thinking?

“Thank you!”

“ _ When you get there, it’s the big building with swirls and an eye in the center _ .”

What he neglects to tell her is that she won’t be anywhere near him. Somewhere in New York, just not with him.

“Got it! See you soon!”

Aeliana hangs up just as a portal opens up for her. She grabs her purse for the road and jumps into the portal, excited and smiling.

On the other side of the portal, it’s a bright, new day. The sky’s the perfect shade of blue. There aren’t too many clouds in the sky. The weather is nice and comfortable. A perfect day.

Taking a good look around, Aeliana doesn’t see anything that looks like what Strange described. Maybe he was joking about what it looks like and she’s expected to find it.

She sighs through her nose and turns the corner of a mildly clear street when a heavy weight crashes right into her.

She expects the pain of hitting the pavement below her, but instead, a pair of arms wraps around her back, keeping her up.

“I am so, so,  _ so sorry _ ! Are you hurt!?”

Puppy dog brown eyes look with worry into her gray ones.

Words escape her. He’s… kinda cute…

Roughly 5’11, shaggy dark hair, mature but slightly baby-faced, and the captivating eyes of a lost puppy.

“I… I-I’m fine. Thank you. F-for catching me, I mean.”

“I can’t tell you how sorry I am! I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“It’s fine. I wasn’t paying attention either.”

“I’m Peter. Peter Parker. Let me buy you a coffee or something to make up for this.”

“Aeliana Tora. And I’m more of a tea person.” She smiles softly, but her cheeks darken when she realizes she’s still in his arms, slightly dipped backwards with her hands firmly planted on his  _ very _ fit chest.

“Y-you can let me go now, Peter…”

“Oh! I’m sorry!”

“You’re fine. Don’t apologize.” It looks like he might protest. “No, really. There’s no need to apologize.”

“If you’re sure. There’s a great cafe just around the block if you’d like to join me.” He looks nervous, his cheeks flushed with crimson. 

“I’d love to.” 

 

“So how long have you been in Queens?” Peter asks, sitting down in his favorite spot in the cafe, a nice corner for long talks and privacy.

_ ‘Queens? I should have looked at a map first…’ _

“Not too long. Fifteen minutes or so before we met.”

“Fifteen minutes? Which part of New York are you from? Manhattan?” He looks at her in confusion. How could she have possibly been in Queens for only fifteen minutes?

“Oh, umm, I’m actually from Tokyo, Japan.” She says, playing with her fingers in nervousness.

“Really? That’s amazing. I’ve always wanted to visit Japan. I’m on the Decathlon team at school and one of the trips is in Japan.”

“That’s really cool. What university do you attend?”

Aeliana smiles. This is really getting somewhere. He’s cute, smart, a little dorky, but absolutely adorable.

Peter blinks in confusion. University? How old does she think he is?

“I’m actually in my Junior year of high school. I’m sixteen.”

It’s Aeliana’s turn to blink in confusion.  _ ‘Wait what?’ _

“High school? Oh. I just finished my Sophomore year at the University of Tokyo. I’m nineteen.”

Peter rubs the back of his neck. Does she think he’s a little kid now? Nineteen years old? Damn. She doesn’t even look it!

“What are you going to school for?” He asks her, hoping that they can keep talking like this. He doesn’t want it to end yet.

“I just got my Associates in Psychology. What about you? Where do you plan to go after high school?”

“Kinda depends really. I’m really into science and making things. But I’ve got another year ahead of me to really decide.”

“Not necessarily. I was a History major when I first started. I wasn’t learning about the parts of history that I wanted to be there for, so I thought I might try out Psychology. It’s been working out great. For my Senior year, I’ll actually get to do things hands-on.”

Peter is transfixed. He’s never met anyone like her. Not to mention how stunning she is. With her red hair that falls to her ribcage; gray eyes that look right through him; short enough that if this turns into something more, he’s tall enough to be able to lay his chin on top of her head when they embrace; and perfect, rosy, plump lips for when they--

_ Get your mind out of the gutter, Peter! You’ve only been talking to her for half an hour. Sheesh, get to know her more you idiot. _ He scolds himself, hoping that she can’t tell what he’s been thinking. He’s almost ashamed.

“So what kind of music do you like?” He asks, putting other things out of his head for now.

“J-Pop, K-Pop and classical. I’m a sucker for classical music. You?” She has a playlist for each one. Hundreds of songs she could just sit down and listen to all day.

“Just about anything really. Minus metal and stuff like that. Eighties music is pretty good too.”

“Do you have anything exciting going on in your life? Something you really love?” She asks, her head slightly tilted to the side and Peter just melts.

“I have an internship with Mr. Stark that I applied for.” It’s the first thing that comes to mind.

“Mr. Stark? Like the rich American who’s also Iron Man?” She raises an eyebrow.

“That’s the one.” Maybe she won’t ask too many questions about it…

“What kind of things does he have you do?”

“Paperwork and things like that for now. It sounds boring, but when I get a higher position, I’ll be able to do much more.” Mostly the truth. Minus the paperwork of course. He can’t possibly tell her who he really is. She would totally freak out.

“I like this.”

“What?”

“This. Talking with you. You’re an interesting person, Peter.”

Peter feels his cheeks darken to a red the shade of Aeliana’s hair.

“I-I am? I mean… I am.”

Aeliana smiles softly, looking deep into Peter’s eyes.

A loud bang rings in their ears, bringing them both out of it. A gunshot from around the corner. So much screaming.

“What’s going on?”

Peter stands up quickly, telling Aeliana to stay where she is while he checks out where that gunshot came from. It sounded like it came from the jewelry store.

The minute Peter leaves the cafe, Aeliana puts on her white fox mask and runs towards the gunshot.

Three men trying to make a getaway with a bag of jewels. Easy enough.

She uses a nearby tree to restrain the first man.

Throwing out a hand, she ices up the sidewalk, making the second man slip and fall, dragging him back with wind to tie him up.

For the final man, she uses lightning to tap into the electricity in his brain and put him to sleep, pulling him back to restrain him as well.

She feels a shift in the air behind her and swirls around to find a man hanging upside down from a web in blue and red tights. A large, black  _ arachnid _ is in the center of his chest, making her shiver. She  _ hates _ them.

“Who are you?” Aeliana demands, narrowing her eyes, though she doubts he can tell due to her mask.

“Spiderman. Who are you?” He asks, tilting his head.

“The Hogo-sha. I’ve already tidied things up. The police should be here soon.” And with that, Aeliana makes her getaway into the alley, taking the long way around to the cafe.

Peter looks at the scene in front of him in shock. He didn’t even take that long getting into his suit. It took her less than five minutes to take all three of them down.

What are the odds that he would meet someone else like him? Slim, but entirely possible. If he goes back now, he has to face her.

He changes back into his normal clothes, running back to see if she’s still okay.

Back at the cafe, Aeliana is sitting in the same place, looking outside for him. She’s pretending that she didn’t go anywhere. That she was there the whole time when really she took them down all on her own.

Peter walks into the cafe and sits down across from her again.

“Are you okay? What happened?” She asks, worry in her eyes. He wasn’t anywhere to be found when she took those three out.

“The jewelry store was being robbed. Don’t worry though. Someone already took care of it by the time I got there.” A little lie, but he has a feeling that she doesn’t want to be confronted about it. Just as he doesn’t want to confess about being Spiderman.

“That’s good.”

Aeliana notices that Peter is a little bit more awkward around her and she doesn’t know why. She thought they were getting along great. Maybe he’s still uncomfortable after hearing the gunshot? She doesn’t know.

They talk for a little bit longer before Peter asks if she wants a tour around Queens.

As he shows her around, she notices that he gets a little closer to her every now and then. She thinks it’s cute and smiles at it.

As the sun begins to set, it’s clear that both of them should head home.

“I really enjoyed hanging out with you today, Peter.”

“Me too. I-I mean with you.” He rubs the back of his neck nervously before trying to muster up enough courage to ask her.

“Could I get your number?”

They trade phones, putting each other’s numbers in.

“It was really nice being with you today. Would you like to do it again sometime?” Peter asks, his cheeks turning pink.

“I would love to.”

From across the street, Strange finds Aeliana talking to a boy. He feels bad about leaving Aeliana to find her way around New York, but it seems that she made a new friend in the process.

When the boy leaves, he approaches her.

“Who was that?”

Aeliana jumps, turning around to find Strange there. “You scared me.” She says, putting a hand over her heart.

“My apologies. How was your day?”

“Interesting. I made a new friend and stopped a jewelry store robbery.”

“So that was you then? You have no finesse.”

“Excuse me?”

“You possess no subtlety in what you do.”

“So what do you suggest that I do?” She asks, raising an eyebrow and placing her hands on her hips.

“Come with me to my sanctum. I will teach you control. How to do things the ‘clean’ way. Give you a bit more control over what makes you special.”

Aeliana feels her heart warm a little. After what she had to do last month, she feels like this is exactly what she needs. 

 

Peter walks into the apartment he shares with Aunt May. By the time he walks through the door, it’s eight-thirty.

“I’m home, Aunt May.” Peter calls.

“A little later than I was expecting. Were you with Ned all day?” Aunt May comes out of the living room, taking a seat at the kitchen table in front of him.

“Not exactly, no. I, uh… I met a girl today…” His cheeks flare up at the thought of her.

“Is this a pretty girl? A ‘more than a friend’ girl?” She smiles at his reddened cheeks.

“Y-yeah. She’s really pretty…”

“So how did you two meet?” Her hands are folded and her elbows lay on the table, making her a bit more comfortable and Peter a little less so.

“Well, I umm… I kind of ran into her and almost knocked her over. A-and I felt bad so I took her out to get coffee and she said yes. I-I showed her around because she’s never been to Queens before. She’s from Japan.”

Aunt May holds up a hand to Peter because he’s started mumbling.

“Is she nice? Not just to you, but others?”

“She’s so nice.”

“Good. Bring her over sometime.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is about as much as I've written in my own time, but I am coming back with more. I'm suffering from a huge case of writer's block and dealing with college, but hopefully I can get something out without a two-month wait.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sneak peek into Peter and Aeliana's relationship. Hints at the Avengers new mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's been a while... Something hit me in the middle of the night. It's not long, I know. But with the whole writer's block thing, I'm glad to have gotten something down. It might not be as good as I'd like it to be, but it sets the stage for a few bigger things.

Aeliana spends nearly three months with Strange, getting better at manipulating her powers. She and Peter have been meeting up as often as they can, already great friends.

Peter asked Aeliana to meet at their cafe to hangout again, so they sit, coffee and tea in their spots at the back of the cafe.

“So, I wanted to ask you something.”

Aeliana raises an eyebrow. She can tell he’s nervous.

“What is it?”

“W-Would you be interested in going to dinner with me? But… but not as friends… Maybe something more…?”

Aeliana smiles, a little wicked, as Peter’s cheeks darken and he stutters a little bit.

“Peter Parker, are you asking me out?”

“O-Only if you want to…”

She places her hand over his, squeezing it softly.

“I would be delighted to attend dinner with you as more than a friend.”

Peter smiles his goofy smile, but his cheeks are still darkened. So Aeliana leans over the small table and places a soft kiss on his warm cheek.

His cheeks grow darker and his eyes avert away, tempted to place a hand where her lips touched, eager for a little more.

Aeliana watches him in amusement, a small smirk on her lips. She takes a sip of hot tea, watching him spiral. He’s young. Is she making the right call here? The rules in America are so different than what she’s used to. The legal ages for things have switched around.

“Something wrong, Peter?” She asks, her elbow on the table, supporting her chin as her other hand is on top of Peter’s.

“N-no. There’s nothing wrong.”

“Why are you so nervous around me? I thought we were past that?” She looks down at her cup of tea for a moment, a little sad, before locking eyes with Peter.

“I-it’s not… I’m not… It’s just that I-I like you. And you, you’re older than me, and you probably think I’m just a kid. I’m still in high school and you already have a freaking degree, and you’re really smart and pretty, and I’m just Peter. I just don’t know why you--”

Aeliana silences him with a kiss. It’s soft and unhurried. She cups his cheek just as his hand caresses her hair. Their hands on the table interlock their fingers.

The kiss deepens as Aeliana licks his bottom lip, asking for entry. Peter opens almost immediately and their tongues move together, exploring each other.

They only pull away when they need to come back for air. In their secluded part of the cafe, no one notices their kiss.

Peter lays his forehead against Aeliana’s, brushing their noses together.

“Is that enough to convince you that I want you, Peter?” Aeliana asks against his lips, just centimeters away from kissing him again.

The way his name rolls off her lips makes him kiss her again. Peter takes control this time, his tongue passing her lips and exploring her mouth. Aeliana doesn’t battle for dominance and leans into Peter.

A soft moan escapes her and Peter leans in further, both hands in her silky hair. Aeliana has one hand in Peter’s hair and another on the back of his neck.

When they pull away for air, Aeliana giggles softly.

“I don’t think this is ‘cafe appropriate’, Peter.” She smiles, holding his hand as his cheeks grow slightly red.

“R-right…” Peter stutters, face as red as her hair.

His fingers interlock with hers again while they talk for a few more hours. They leave three hours later when the cafe closes at ten o’clock.

“Let me walk you back to where you’re staying.” Peter says, his face no longer red. He feels much more confident now. Like there’s a skip in his step.

 

 

Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, and Tony Stark sit in front of Nick Fury, a computer turned towards them.

They watch as a redheaded woman with a white mask shaped like a fox fights on the streets of Queens with a few elemental powers.

“This is from three months ago. I’ve had my people search all over the country for this woman. Nothing. She’s not in any videos other than this one.”

“What if you’re not looking far enough?” Steve asks, arms crossed.

“Not far enough? I think we’ve just about covered the entire continent.”

“I don’t think she’s from here. I’d say a tourist, but not many tourists walk around like they’re the Avatar.” Tony comments, rewatching the video.

“And where, Stark, do you advise I search?”

“That’s an interesting mask. Not something you buy for a few bucks. I think a few countries in Asia might do something like that.” Natasha says, zooming in on her mask.

“Asia it is, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment to help send inspiration my way.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone needs their painful backstory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the wait! It's going to be a bit of a depressing and short chapter. If you have not noticed, I did add a tag about brief mentions of rape, so please keep that in mind while reading.

Peter took Aeliana to the New York sanctum where Doctor Stephen Strange is staying.

Aeliana is staying with Stephen at the sanctum where he continues to help her master her powers. But today she decides that she needs to go home for a while.

She asks Doctor Strange not to follow her and that she would call once she finished. Today will be a difficult day. She wants to be alone.

As Strange opens the portal and she’s back in her apartment, she begins to tear up. She waits for the portal to close before she sobs uncontrollably.

Aeliana pulls the key from around her neck and unlocks the second door to the right down the hallway. She lights the candles with her fire, shuts the door, locks it and kneels down in front of her shrine she built for her parents.

Her mother, now dead for five years, and her father dead for three months. Three months ago, Aeliana decided that it was enough, that her father had been suffering to no avail for too long. He deserved better than what he was getting.

So she went to the doctor and told him to pull the plug. She didn’t stop crying for hours, sitting next to him and holding his hand through the whole thing. And now she can barely contain her sobs as she looks at the pictures of her parents in the prime of their health. She does not want to remember them as they died, but as they appeared when they lived the best of their lives.

When she looks at the picture of her mother and the article below, a flood of memories comes back to her. Suddenly she’s back under the kotatsu blanket, her mother having shoved her under, telling her to be silent and stay, no matter what she heard.

And she heard too much.

The sounds of her mother screaming as the four men that broke into their home. She protected Aeliana as best she could before she was brutally stabbed. Aeliana is thrown back under the blanket, watching through a hole in the fabric as the men do _unspeakable_ things to her. She held back her sobs, afraid for her mother and herself. Aeliana prayed to every god she’d ever heard of, praying that they could save her and her mother from their hell.

But it was not enough. _She_ was not enough.

When the men finished with her mother, they left her to bleed out and stole what they could. Aeliana waited a few minutes before she crawled out from underneath the kotatsu to her mother.

"Momma… M-Momma… Wake up…!”

Her body trembled uncontrollably and called for help. They were too late to save her mother.

But Aeliana memorized their faces, their features. And not two months later did she take revenge and kill each and every one of those men. Slowly. Just like they did with her mother. She made them suffer.

And just like that, she decided that no one should have to go through that and acted on it. With nothing but a mask and a bat, she took things into her own hands.

Aeliana is brought back to reality by some miracle. She cries for her mother who died too young, and her father, who could not be cured. She curls up into a ball, letting it all out, having bottled everything up. Rain pours outside, blaring down on the apartment complex like hail. Thunder booms outside, covering Aeliana’s cries of grief. It’s almost as if the world shakes with her.

She doesn’t even have the heart to speak to her parents. It’s like she’s broken inside. A hole in her heart that has not yet been able to heal. Even Peter cannot save her broken soul. Not yet. She’s been alone too long, grieving too long. But there is no time on how long a person can grieve. Five years is too much for her. Just looking at her mother’s picture throws her into unwanted memories of violence and brutality.

Aeliana does not want to continue feeling this way. She wishes that the pain would all go away, but it never does. She tries to push the memories to the darkest part of her mind, but somehow they always push their way back up.

Her phone rings. It’s Stephen. She takes a deep breath and exhales very slowly before answering the phone.

“Hello?” She asks softly, as to not give anything away.

“ _I have a portal ready whenever you decide to come back_.”

Aeliana gets up, brushes herself off, and locks the door behind her.

She spots the portal and nearly dives for it, but she stops herself. She has to control this. She knows that the severe weather that Tokyo just experienced was because of her. It always happens when she gets this emotional. It has to stop. But training with Stephen has helped her a lot.

So Aeliana steps through the portal, back into New York, and gives Stephen a hug that he does not expect. She says nothing, and neither does he. He just holds her while she tries to control herself. Stephen looks down at her and keeps his arms wrapped around her. He noticed her puffy eyes and decided the best thing he could do for her is hold her. So he holds her tight, letting Aeliana grieve for as long as she needs to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter out! Very exciting, but also depressing. Please give me some feedback to help keep me going! Writer's block is horrible.


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